02/02/2012

technical schools los angeles State lawmakers spare school bus service from midyear budget cut,The trigger cut was inequitable, and L.A. Unified was disproportionately impacted by it, he said. This bill mitigates it by spreading the reduction more evenly around the state.Both houses of the Legislature have approved SB 81, sending it to Gov. Jerry Brown, whtechnical schools los angeleso is expected to sign it. The measure would take effect immediately, protecting transportation funding through the end of the current school year.Brown still proposes to eliminate the funding in the coming fiscal year that begins July 1. He wants to switch to a system that would give districts more flexibility in spending money now earmarked for so-called categorical programs, including home-to-school transportation.The midyear budget cut was potentially going to be a huge disaster and a huge crisis, said Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, the Sherman Oaks Democrat who carried SB 81. This was something that we needed to figure out a solution for.This wasnt the most artful or the best solution. But it is a solution that gets us through the next six months and gives districts time to come up with a plan.Los Angeles Unified filed suit in December after the midyear trigger cut was announced, saying it would mean the end of voluntary busing for its magnet schools - the backbone of the districts court-mandated desegregation program.In addition, the district must bus about 13,000 pupils daily under federal requirements to serve students with behavioral, physical and developmental disabilities.Even as it challenges the plan in court, the district has continued its busing service by diverting money from other programs.Slashing or eliminating bus service would have had the greatest effect on rural districts, where students have to travel long distances to get to and from school.The Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District in north Los Angeles County was considering charging parents a fee for busing. Elsewhere, officials were looking at consolidating bus routes or expanding online and independent study programs for students who would be unable to make it to campus.Blumenfield noted that some districts, including Santa Ana Unified, will take a larger hit under SB 81 than they would have under the trigger cut.There are some winners and some losers among districts, but we cant just look at it that way, he said. We have to look at this as a unique circumstance, a way that we can move forward toward the larger discussion of how we fund education.barbara.jones@dailynews.comFollow Barbara Jones on Twitter at writer Rob Kuznia and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

School buses pick up students after school at Ambler Elementary School in Carson Thursday. State lawmakers decided not to cut funds to busing. The LAUSD school board had planned to sue the state over he cuts as many students are bussed from overcrowded schools. (Steve McCrank / Staff Photographer)Parents and educators expressed relief Thursday after state lawmakers changed their minds and voted against targeting school bus stechnical schools los angeles State lawmakers spare school bus service from midyear budget cutervice in a midyear budget cut to education.Senate Bill 81 would alter a $248 million cut in school transportation that was triggered by a projected shortll in state revenue. A new funding formula imposes an across-the-board cut on the states 1,000-plus school districts.The original cut would have meant the loss of $38 million to Los Angeles Unified - money it needed to bus its 38,000 magnet and special education students for the rest of the school year. Under the new plan, it will lose just $24 million, officials said.About 85 of LAUSDs K-12 schools are located in the South Bay and Harbor Area. One of them, Westchester High, became a magnet school this year, and thus buses more than half of its students in from all over Los Angeles.Westchester Principal Robert Carr said hes heartened by the news, but still isnt sure what to expect.I know better than to jump every time a cut gets discussed, he said. We go through this routine every single year. We prepare for cuts, it generates a sense of anxiety, and thankfully the cuts are never quite as bad as people feared.But he added: I anticipate we will be impacted by cuts. Hopefully they wont be catastrophic.Edgar Zazueta, LAUSDs director of governmental relations, said the news is a step in the right direction.